Gunnera magellanica
Gunnera magellanica is a perennial rhizomatous dioeceous herb native to Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands, and Andean areas of Peru and Ecuador. In the southern part of its range, it grows in damper parts of the Magellanic subpolar forests and Valdivian temperate forests, and shrub formations on Tierra del Fuego, with an altitudinal range from sea level to.
This species colonizes the bare land that appears upon retreating glaciers in Southern Chile. Since G. magellanica can form symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi and cyanobacteria, thereby enriching the soil with nutrients, the species has been proposed to facilitate the establishment of other plant species.
Description
Unlike its congeners, G. tinctoria and G. manicata, the leaves are small, approximately across. They are rounded or kidney-shaped, stipulate on long petioles, with crenate edges.Flowers are unisexual, with female inflorescences shorter than male ones. The fruit is a bright red berry 3–5 mm in diameter.
The leaves die back in the austral autumn, so G. magellanica perennates as under-ground rhizomes, and is therefore classified as a cryptophyte.
Taxonomy
Gunnera magellanica was first described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 3: 61, t. 801, f. 2. 1789.;Etymology:
Gunnera: the generic name honours the Norwegian botanist and bishop Johan Ernst Gunnerus.
magellanica: geographical epithet referring to its distribution in proximity to the Magellan Straits.
;Synonyms:Gunnera falklandica Hook.Gunnera integrifolia BlumeGunnera plicata VahlGunnera reniformis Gay ex BlumeMisandra magellanica J.F. Gmel.